The headline for the sports pages of Feb. 2 has already been written: Cardinals Defeat Steelers; Arizona Breaks 61-Year Drought.<\/p>\n
Well, the headline is written, at least for a slew of area folks who predict an Arizona victory. Why? The key reasons are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They deserve it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re closer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Super Bowl XLIII is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 1, in Tampa, Fla.<\/p>\n
Of the dozen-plus people surveyed, mostly exercise buffs working out at the City Recreation Center, none is an original fan of either the Arizona Cardinals or the Pittsburgh Steelers. Several base their hopes and predictions on proximity, the fact that it would take just a day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drive to get to Phoenix, whereas a trip to Pittsburgh …<\/p>\n
The random sampling shows a mix of eight favorite teams, with three highly intelligent prognosticators being original Oakland Raider fans, whereas three dreamers root for a team called the Dallas Cowboys. And people also like the Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n
David Vigil, a local firefighter and Raider fan, predicts a close, low-scoring game with the Cardinals on top. David\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reason for picking the Cards is simple: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re closer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Fellow Raider fan James \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Screech\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Saavedra, a junior at Highlands University, also picks Arizona and even provided a final score: 21-14. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Their offensive corps is real strong, especially after they gave Edgerrin James more P.T.,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Screech said, adding that P.T. stands for playing time.<\/p>\n
Ron Maestas, a former professor, referee, coach and maven of all things related to sports, is one of the few to predict a victory for the Steelers. And he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a wee bit haughty about it, exclaiming, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be Pittsburgh, baby, all the way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Ron is counting on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153total dominance, defense, the Steel Curtain and championship experience, baby,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to give Pittsburgh a 27-6 win. And he went so far as to invoke the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sapo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d factor in the event Arizona wins.<\/p>\n
A sapo, you may recall, baby, is a lucky stroke which happens to the other team or person. I make a basket from mid-court: that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s skill, baby, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s expected; if Ron does the same thing, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sapo, baby. Ron is a Redskins fan.<\/p>\n
Doug Moses, the Highlands University wrestling coach, picks Arizona in a close game, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one touchdown or less. They deserve it after 61 years with no championship.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Moses\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 favorite team: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Green Bay Packers, from Day 1.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Philisha Crespin, a Dallas fan, agrees with Moses in choosing the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153deserving\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cardinals. The West Las Vegas High School senior predicts \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a close game with a low score. They (Cardinals) deserve it after all these years,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Philisha said.<\/p>\n
And Christopher Tafoya, a senior at West is also going for the Cards. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I expect a good game, one touchdown or 10 points. They deserve it, after 61 years.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Christopher, a Vikings fan, has great faith in Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stellar wide receiver who Steeler coach Mike Tomlin describes as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quite simply the best receiver in the world down the field in one-on-one situations.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d For the past two years, Tomlin might have been able to watch Fitzgerald play, from the coach\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s office. Fitzgerald attended the University of Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Other Super Bowl fans gave mixed reasons for having a favorite to win on Feb. 1. Robert Sanchez, a fitness tech at the recreation center, picks the Cards over the Steelers by seven. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a big fan of the underdog,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Robert said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And the Cardinals are in the same division with my favorite team, the 49ers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Jacqueline Casados, from Mora, and a cosmetologist at Hair We R, explains, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not crazy about football, but because my sister is from Arizona, I prefer the Cardinals.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jacqueline expects a close game and says Arizona deserves a chance after \u00e2\u20ac\u0153coming such a long way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Her regular-season favorite team is the Broncos.<\/p>\n
Eloy Gonzales, a retired x-ray technician, expects the Cardinals to win by six. His reason: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They have a better quarterback,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d referring to Kurt Warner. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And a good offense will always beat a good defense.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Eloy is a long-time Cowboy fan, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ever since Don Perkins played for them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Perkins, a former Lobo standout whose name appears on the Dallas Ring of Honor, is the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s third-best gridder of all time. He will be visiting Luna Community College this spring, as part of a speakers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 series.<\/p>\n
George Cowden, a maintenance tech, originally from Colorado, is a Raider fan who expects the Steelers to win by a pair of touchdowns. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pittsburgh always does well in the Super Bowl, and the Steelers are hungry for a win,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d George said.<\/p>\n
Dennis Aragon, a local dentist, said he feels as if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153torn between two lovers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d His brother is a Steelers fan, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but Phoenix is close by, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going with the Cardinals. Besides, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on a roll.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Aragon is a Bronco fan.<\/p>\n
Rooting for the Steelers will be Irene Taylor, whose justification is simple: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My dad likes them, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like the Steelers to kick their butts.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Irene, originally from Seattle, moved to Las Vegas in 2001 and works at Semilla Natural Foods. Her favorite team is the Cowboys.<\/p>\n
And finally, Charles Tapia, a Camp Luna neighbor, said he prefers the Cardinals, but only after I told him which teams will be playing. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Football\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boring. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather be up in the mountains,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Charles said.<\/p>\n
Good idea, and I may go to the mountains myself. But only after the Cardinals show the Steelers how the game is played.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The headline for the sports pages of Feb. 2 has already been written: Cardinals Defeat Steelers; Arizona Breaks 61-Year Drought. Well, the headline is written, at least for a slew of area folks who predict an Arizona victory. Why? The key reasons are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They deserve it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re closer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Super Bowl XLIII is scheduled for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}